You Promised You Wouldn't Tell!
by cutechick49
Summary: I was one of the 'IT' girls. You know the type. Beautiful, popular, every girl wanted to be me, and every guy wanted to date me. But that was all ripped away with the revelation of my biggest secret. (A CLAIRE STORY)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Lizzie McGuire!  
  
A/N: This is a Claire story. This is my first fanfic where there is a POV (point of view) usually I am the narrator.  
  
Warning: I don't want to give away my plot of 'Claire's secrets' just yet but this is going to deal with some VERY serious topics. If you don't think you cant handle it, don't read!  
  
PLEASE REVIEW  
  
As I walked through the halls in my brand-new 'baby phat' outfit that early Monday morning, I noticed all eyes asphyxiated on me. To make things even weirder, my clique wasn't by the lockers where we usually met up. My clique consisted of five girls on the cheer squad. They ranged from sophomore to senior. My best friend, Kate, was in this clique also, but searching for her seemed to be no use either.  
  
I could hear people talking. I'm usually used to whispers, lies, and rumors being spread about me. After all, I did belong to the most popular clique in high school! So that sort of thing came with the status. But this time it was different. I got one of those 'feelings'! I guess you could call it my intuition. Something was wrong.  
  
I was one of the 'it' girls'. You know the type, beautiful, popular, cheerleader. The ones' who always get invited to the best parties, and date the most popular guys. My best friend, Kate, had helped my rise to this popularity in middle school. That status carried with us through our first two years of high school. We were now sophomore. Although we had to work a bit harder to maintain our status through the transition to high school, it wasn't much of a problem considering we were cheerleaders.  
  
I kept walking and the people of Mountain Ridge High School kept looking. The only things I got out of their whispers were things like, "I would have never suspected. Or, can you believe it?" I was getting paranoid at this point, but still maintained my "Keep it cool, they're not talking about you. There's no way they could know." Optimism. Kate had taught me that a few years back.  
  
I decided to go ahead to my first period class with the high hopes that my clique assumed I wasn't coming to school and went ahead without me. Another disappointment lingered as I arrived in the classroom to find the five empty desks that usually surround mine.  
  
The bell rung and class began. Only seconds later, four of my five friends arrived with an excused note for our teacher. They started to take their seats beside me. All the while they were looking at me very strangely, almost as if they had sympathy in their eyes. I don't want to talk badly about my girls but they are not the type that you would call "true friends", or even "friends" for that matter. You couldn't count on them for anything. You never expected them to keep their promises, and they would never have your back for anything. We were all just a part of that 'special group' of sophomores, juniors, and seniors.  
  
I had the feeling that I'd better say something to break their stares'. Just as I was about to ask where Kate had gone, the teacher called me up to her desk and gave me a note. It directed me to the counselor's office.  
  
I was getting very nervous and suspicious. At that point I would have even settled for being accused of cheating, or plagiarism. I would have settled for anything but what I was about to face. 


	2. Broken Promises!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Lizzie McGuire.  
  
A/N: Nothing much to say!  
  
Reviews: Thank you Crash and Burn! I was afraid you weren't reading my stories anymore. I always look forward to your reviews!  
  
It was a long, slow walk up to the counselor's office from my classroom. At that moment, our school seemed enormous! Or maybe it was just because my destination was the place I was dreading the most. I'm still not really sure.  
  
I arrived at the counselor's office, still unsure of what to expect. Just as I was turning the handle on the door it fiercely swung open. Kate emerged with a look of surprise, yet sorrow as she saw me. It looked as if she had been crying. Her face was blushed and red, her eyelids were swollen. Her mascara was running down her cheeks. It was at that moment I knew she had told. She had betrayed me on the one thing she knew was imperative to keep secret.  
  
As I looked into her puffy eyes for just that split second I started thinking about the day I first met her. All the emotions came rushing back into me. I met Kate at Hill ridge Junior high when I was twelve years old. I was a lonely sixth grader. Shy and timid.  
  
She wasn't the "Kate Saunders" everyone knew her as now. Kate befriended me. We started sitting together at lunch and having the occasional sleepovers. It wasn't long before we were inseperatable. No one could come between us.  
  
About eight months after I met Kate we became popular. We were known as the "Kate and Claire duo". It was an amazing feeling to be known and liked by so many people. Or should I say so many popular people? We shared and unattainable bond. One that could never be matched or broken. I needed Kate, and she needed me.  
  
In seventh grade things only got better. We started changing and looking at boys. The boys looked back at us too! Then Lizzie McGuire came into play. She was the sweetest girl. That was her downfall. She was such an easy target, never fighting back and all. We were so much alike. But neither Kate nor I would ever have let her see that. I used to think that only a year before, in sixth grade, this girl could have been my very best friend.  
  
No, it wouldn't have been the same though. Kate and I shared a bond that was unlike any other. We knew exactly what the other had been through and we thrived on that. I don't even want to think what I would have been had it not been for Kate.  
  
That's all changed though. This girl that I needed so much has now betrayed me. I could never forgive that, not with something this big.  
  
I woke out of my daze of thoughts to find that I was sitting in a chair in the counselor's office. The last thing I'd remembered, I was looking Kate straight in the eyes. I do that a lot. I'll be like a zombie, lost in my world, and not understand how I got from point A to point B. It's my way of coping with things. And believe me, I've had a lot of things worth coping with!  
  
"Claire, I'm going to ask you a very serious question. One that you're going to need to answer truthfully." The counselor had interrupted my thoughts. I knew exactly what she was going to ask. I didn't want to answer it then and there.  
  
"I think I know what this is about. I don't want to talk about it right now. Can you give me a day or so to think things over?" I knew that if I could just have a day, just one day, things would be better.  
  
"So you know that this is about the "rumor" that." I cut her off. I couldn't hear the words. They were too harsh to actually hear come out of someone's mouth. I knew it would have sent me over the edge. People always judge you. It doesn't matter if what happens is your fault or not. They always want to blame someone, and it's not always the guilty party.  
  
"Yes, I know exactly what this is about. But I need time. I'm not ready to talk yet. I know what you have to do. But please, a day, just give me a day." Did I know what she had to do? Did I really understand the seriousness of the situation? Did I really grasp the concept that saying everything aloud would change my life forever?  
  
"A day, but you HAVE to talk to me tomorrow about this." The emphasis she put on the word "have" made me feel uneasy. I didn't HAVE to do anything.  
  
"Okay." Was all that I could manage at that point without choking on my own word.  
  
"I'm sending you. home for the day to think this over. If anything happens." Cut off once again. I didn't like where she was going with this whole thing.  
  
"I know. I need to go now." I finally escaped from that small cube- like room and into the parking lot. I would usually go to Kate's and cry in her lap for hours like I had done so many other times. But this was different, Kate caused this situation. Maybe Kate wanted to cry in my lap just as she had done countless times before. It hurt so much to know that the one person you trusted with EVERYTHING is the one person who betrayed you. 


	3. Thank God!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Lizzie McGuire.  
  
A/N: The next chapter will dish the full dirt on Claire's secret. That is, if you haven't already figured it out.  
  
That night I lay in my bed thinking about everything that had happened. Thinking about how many problems Kate had talked me through, or for that matter vise versa. I thought about the first time I'd met her, our first sleepover, our first intimate conversation. And ultimately how good it felt to finally be able to tell someone and for them to not only listen with an open mind, but also to TRULY understand how it feels.  
  
No one was home that night. Thank god. No one was around to pester me, or yell at me. I had all the time I needed to truly think things through. Kate and I understood each other completely. I laughed to myself for the first time in days thinking about the start of seventh grade.  
  
I could feel myself slipping away into my own little world again. I could feel myself visually reminiscing about events in the past as if I were there. It had always been an unreal, yet comforting feeling for me.  
  
Kate shared things about her past with me. She told me about Miranda Sanchez, Gordo Gordon, and Lizzie McGuire. She shared things about them and about all the good times she had with them. But also about how she always felt she didn't belong with them. She described Lizzie's perfect little life in full detail.  
  
My first thought was that she was completely jealous of Lizzie. Which still holds truth to this day. But as she kept going on about her I found myself growing jealous of this girl also.  
  
Lizzie seemed like the perfect little girl with the perfect little life and the perfect little family to go along with it. I would be lying if I said that to this day I wasn't jealous of her. When seventh grade rolled around and we shared classes with this 'perfect little girl' Kate started taking digs at her. Not all at once, but slowly.  
  
Then I joined in, and before we knew it, it had become a daily routine. We talked about the immense pleasure it gave us to make fun of her. To hurt her. As sick as it sounds, it felt good to place my hurt onto someone else. I'm sure Kate felt the same way.  
  
By the end of the year we had all the popular people believing the lies we told about her. The rumors we had started. It was an amazing feeling to have total control over someone else's life. Much like the control I felt my dad had over me.  
  
I tossed around in bed that night. I couldn't sleep at all. That was the first night I had been alone in my house for almost two years. It sounds exaggerated, but it's true. I laughed at the memory of how mad Kate's mom would get when we would talk our way into letting me stay over even on school nights. We were truly inseparable. As we got older we gained more freedom. Suddenly, Kate's mom and dad were out of town for a couple weeks here, a few there. We threw parties and drank. You know, all that good stuff that 'good teens' do.  
  
I loved the jealousy I felt from the other girls. The feeling that they all wished they could be us. They thought WE were the perfect one's with the perfect lives' and the perfect parents'. They didn't know how truly wrong they were. Until now. 


	4. Secrets' Revealed!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to with Lizzie McGuire the cast/series/books/ or movie! Remember it!  
  
A/N: This is the chapter in which Claire's secret is revealed. Maybe Kate's too! I haven't decided on that one!  
  
Warning! This chapter deals with that SERIOUSNESS mentioned in chapter one. I'm trying to give a warning without ruining my surprise! But, eh, you're gonna find out anyway. This chapter contains sexual content, or at least the mention of it.  
  
I woke up at three o'clock that morning, an hour and a half before I usually awoke. This meant that, despite the tiredness I was going to feel that day, I wouldn't be rushed. Unfortunately, it also meant that I would have more time to dread going to school, and that the minutes would pass by slower. I wanted so much to call Kate up. To have her meet me there, but I knew I couldn't. It would be saying that this whole thing was okay.  
  
I was never the one to reveal secrets first. I was too afraid of being judged by the other person. Only if I was sure that the other person would understand would I mention my whole ordeal. Kate was the same way, only she made sure in different ways.  
  
About three months after I met Kate, she started becoming suspicious about why we never slept over at my house. She started to question me about why I never wanted to be alone. She spilled first.  
  
One night, at one of our nightly sleepovers, her mom wasn't home. Kate and I had the total freedom to discuss whatever we had wanted. She had to choose that topic. Kate told me that when she was ten, her fifteen-year- old next-door neighbor was babysitting her. It took her awhile, but she finally confided in me. Kate finally told me that her next-door neighbor raped her.  
  
I had been expecting her to tell someone about me for awhile now. Kate's neighbor moved away shortly after that, so Kate didn't tell anyone. Not even her parents'. But then, about two months ago, he moved back into town. Kate had to face him daily. So she turned him in to the cops. It turned out that there were other little girls, victims, who had surfaced over the years. She told me how good it felt to finally be able to talk about. It wasn't the same though.  
  
Now, It was time for me to catch the bus. It would be the first time in two years for me. Kate usually drove me. I hadn't realized how dependent I had become on Kate. I applied my finishing touches to my make-up and grabbed my backpack.  
  
The bus stop was extremely uncomfortable. Everyone had already established their own little cliques. They were all talking about me too! If I didn't have an obligation at school that day, I would have already bailed. After forty something minutes, I arrived at school. Heading straight for the counselor's office. I was in line with several other people. By the time my name was called, it was second period.  
  
"Claire, sorry it took so long." My counselor came in with a folder. I wasn't a folder, I was a person. Stop staring at the folder! Look at me! Look me in the eyes damn it! That was what I wanted to scream. Hell, I wanted to scream anything! But.  
  
"It's okay." Was all that came out!  
  
"Are you ready to talk about it now?" The question echoed in my ears.  
  
"Umm." I was still thinking!  
  
"Claire?" I'm right fucking here! What, What, What?  
  
"I need Kate here! Get Kate!" Where the fuck did that come from?  
  
"Okay, I just sent up for her. Can we talk in the meantime?" No!  
  
"Yes." Uh, I feel like Cybil has just taken over my brain!  
  
"Alright, good. I'm going to start by asking you some questions. Cool?" Is she trying to sound hip or something?  
  
"Yea."  
  
"I'm sure you already know by now that Kate has brought this to my attention." That double-crossing bitch!  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Oh goodness, I've never had to ask this before. Can you believe that?" Geez lady! Fine, I'll say it. Happy?  
  
"Let me save you the trouble. I'll tell you what happened from the beginning, cool?" Okay, yes. Now I was patronizing her. But I was mad! I was hateful!  
  
"Alright."  
  
"I was eight when it started happening. My mom died when I was five. It was just me and my dad for awhile. He started. he um." Was I crying? Oh my god, I was actually crying. I hadn't cried about this in years. Even when it happened!  
  
"Take your time!" Whatever.  
  
"He started touching me. He had gotten drunk at some Christmas party that night. He came home smashed. I must've been asleep, because the next thing I knew he was on top of me, undressing me. I met Kate when I was twelve. I told her everything. My dad met someone when I was eleven. It stopped for a few years, until last year. She broke up with him. He doesn't just. touch me. anymore." I couldn't believe that I was spilling everything to someone that I hadn't even talked to before. Then Kate walked in. Unsure of what to think I guess.  
  
"Okay. Kate, hi, please take a seat." Duh. I was so relieved to have her there. She was like a mother to me, you hate her sometimes, wish she was out of your life at others. But you know, deep down, that you will always love her. No matter what she does to you, you will always love her! That was what made us so close she wasn't my mother. So, I could confide things in her that I couldn't tell anyone else. I guess you could say that she was a motherly best friend. 


	5. Mark

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Claire or Lizzie McGuire the series/cast/books or movie.  
  
Reviews: Starshine- thank you, I'm glad to see that at least three people are reading! I did think that I would get more reviews, but maybe as the story goes on. Hope you like!  
  
A/N: I think that I'm going to put "remembrance scenes" in this chapter. Meaning that when I put two stars in front of something, you'll know that Claire is remembering conversations and stuff from the past. Got it? Good.  
  
"Hello Kate." The counselor seemed so nonchalant about this whole thing. She makes it seem like any other visit. Maybe that's what she's supposed to do.  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Burke." Kate actually knows her name? How is that possible? She is new to our school; she doesn't even have a nametag. Has Kate been here before?  
  
"Mrs. Burke, sorry to interrupt, but we have an. emergency outside." What's going on out there? He actually looked worried, almost fearful. Mrs. Burke jumped out of her chair.  
  
"I WILL BE RIGHT BACK!" I could see her face through the little window in the door. She looked concerned.  
  
"I wonder what's going on out there." Kate had seen Mrs. Burke's face just as I had. I couldn't say anything back to her. I'm sure she could feel me gazing at her. I started thinking back on my first time, talking to Kate about it.  
  
** "I did it! I finally did it!" (A/N: Claire)  
  
"You did? And.?" (A/N: Kate)  
  
"And it wasn't so great."  
  
"I didn't think it would be. I only did it with Ethan once. I'm not doing it again."  
  
"Mark was so nice about it. But when we started, I, I just couldn't."  
  
"It felt like HE was doing it, huh."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I cried the whole time when Ethan and I." **  
  
Suddenly there was a scream. Kate and I both ran out the door. We didn't get very far. We were held back by a bunch of teachers and staff that I'd never even met. Mark was holding a switchblade. Robbie was antagonizing Mark. Silence was all around. Everyone was gathered in a circle watching it. A girl called 911 on her cell phone as the counselor. Mrs. Burke tried to coax the switchblade out of Mark's hand. He never took his eyes off of Robbie. This was all so unlike Mark. It'd only been about five months since I'd broken up with him. I would have never imagined him wanting to harm anyone.  
  
** "Are you okay?" (A/N: Mark)  
  
"I'm fine." (A/N: Has to be Claire, right?)  
  
"Why did you run out on me yesterday? Did I do something wrong?"  
  
"No! You didn't do anything wrong. I can't see you anymore!"  
  
"Why not? Listen, you don't have to be nervous. I'm not going to tell anyone. It was my first time too!"  
  
"I'm not scared! Please, just leave me alone. You wouldn't understand." **  
  
I heard a scream. When I looked down on the floor I saw Robbie, lying in blood. Shortly after, the ambulance arrived. Several students were taken to the police station to give their scenario of the event. I was one of them. 


End file.
